Abstract
Sarcopenia is characterized by the loss of muscle mass, strength, and function with ageing. With increasing life expectancy, greater attention has been given to counteracting the effects of sarcopenia on the growing elderly population. Chlorella vulgaris, a microscopic, unicellular, green alga with the potential for various pharmaceutical uses, has been widely studied in this context. This study is aimed at determining the effects of C. vulgaris on promoting muscle regeneration by evaluating myoblast regenerative capacity in vitro. Human skeletal myoblast cells were cultured and underwent serial passaging into young and senescent phases and were then treated with C. vulgaris, followed by the induction of differentiation. The ability of C. vulgaris to promote myoblast differentiation was analysed through cellular morphology, real-time monitoring, cell proliferation, senescence-associated β-galactosidase (SA-β-gal) expression, myogenic differentiation, myogenin expression, and cell cycle profiling. The results obtained showed that senescent myoblasts exhibited an enlarged and flattened morphology, with increased SA-β-gal expression, reduced myogenic differentiation, decreased expression of myogenin, and an increased percentage of cells in the G0/G1 phase. Treatment with C. vulgaris resulted in decreased SA-β-gal expression and promotion of myogenic differentiation, as observed via an increased fusion index, maturation index, myotube size, and surface area and an increased percentage of cells that stained positive for myogenin. In conclusion, C. vulgaris improves the regenerative capacity of young and senescent myoblasts and promotes myoblast differentiation, indicating its potential to promote muscle regeneration.
Highlights
A decrease in performance of bodily functions is observed with the progression of ageing
The morphology of myoblast cells at population doubling (PD) 14 and PD 21 exhibited different characteristics: cells at PD 14 were spindle shaped with round nuclei, more branching, and multinucleation (Figure 1(a)), while cells at PD 21 were larger and flatter with few nuclei and less branching
The lifespan curve began to plateau at higher PDs, indicating a slower proliferation rate as cells moved towards replicative senescence
Summary
A decrease in performance of bodily functions is observed with the progression of ageing. In the muscular skeletal system, a sequential loss of skeletal muscle mass, strength, and function is observed with increasing age. This condition is known as sarcopenia [1, 2]. Sarcopenia has been described as an age-related decline of muscle mass, function, and strength, with high prevalence after ageing [3]. A longitudinal study revealed muscle mass loss at a rate of 0.64% to 0.70% per year in women and 0.80% to 0.98% per year in men, along with muscle strength loss at a rate of 2.5% to
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